Earth Hour is an international event during which the WWF calls on organizations and individuals to turn off non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol for their commitment to the planet

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. The Moscow Kremlin and the House of the Government of the Russian Federation will on Saturday take part in the Earth Hour international environmental event, with the buildings’ outside illumination to be turned off.

Russian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergey Donskoy is expected to launch the 10th environmental event of the World Wide Fund for Nature on March 19 on downtown Moscow’s Red Square, the ministry told TASS.

"Donskoy will start the event on Red Square," a ministry spokeswoman said March 16.

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the proposal, which came from Donskoy.

Earth Hour is an international event during which the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) calls on organizations and individuals to turn off non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol for their commitment to the planet. Illumination of well-known buildings and memorials worldwide is turned off during that period.

The event was first started in Sydney, Australia in 2007.

In 2016, Earth Hour is held on Saturday, March 19, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time.

Moscow’s Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Protection said outside illumination of more than 1,000 buildings, including Ostankino TV tower, Luzhniki sports center, the Christ the Savior Cathedral, will be turned off during Earth Hour.

Moscow joined the Earth Hour event in 2009. In 2013, the illumination of the Moscow Kremlin, as well as another 100 buildings, was turned off for the first time. In 2014, some 400 buildings went dark for an hour in the Russian capital.

In 2015, the event involved 172 countries and over 2 billion people. In Russia, 20 million people supported Earth Hour last year.

In 2016, more than 80 Russian cities will take part in the event, the World Wide Fund for Nature said in a statement.